English

Department Overview

Mr. John MohrmannDepartment Chair

The English curriculum is a six-year required program. At all levels students read a variety of works, engage in thoughtful discussion, practice different kinds of writing, study the elements of language, and learn new vocabulary. The goal of the program is to enable students to develop facility in wielding the language effectively for a variety of purposes. In learning to use language accurately, whether in writing or in discussion, students develop the skills of critical thinking.

Faculty

Faculty Members

Course Assignments, 2017-18

Mr. John Mohrmann, Department Chair

Form IV, Form V, Form VI

Mr. Tim Bussen

Form III, Form V, Form VI

Mr. Tim Clark

Form III, Form IV, Form VI

Mrs. Judy Mohan

Form I, Form V, Form VI

Father Gregory Mohrmann, O.S.B., '76

Form V, Form VI

Mr. Mike Nickolai, '03

Form II

Father Augustine Wetta, O.S.B.

Form I

Mr. Tim Woodcock

Form I, Form II, Form VI, The Record moderator

Father Ralph Wright, O.S.B.

Form VI

Philosophy

At Saint Louis Priory, we believe that language, in written and spoken forms, matters greatly. Through a six-year program of reading, writing, and discussion, we in the English Department strive to engender in our students an appreciation of and facility with language and to help refine their ability to read, to observe, to think, to express their thoughts accurately and forcefully, to listen, and to wonder.

Literature is language at its most refined, and it is our goal to offer the students, through a wide range of readings including the classic and the contemporary, the opportunity to discover both the joy of reading and the moving personal and aesthetic experience literature provides. At every grade level, students read and discuss literature in all genres, study the elements of language, and learn new vocabulary; close and careful reading of the text infuses the study of literature throughout. At no point in the program do we consider it important that students in a particular grade level be studying the same text at the same time; and although most students at most levels study most of the same plays and novels, teachers often supplement with different titles.In other words, we realize the value of a shared familiarity with certain worthwhile literature, but we also acknowledge that our approach to the study of literature is more important. We strive to develop life-long readers with a sense for language who comprehend material, recognize how literary techniques contribute to meaning, detect subtleties of tone and inference, and, as a result, experience literature sensitively and personally. Naturally, students develop this sense and detect these subtleties gradually and at different times as they mature as readers and thinkers.The close reading of literature is a skill that requires practice; therefore, our approach to the study and discussion of literature necessarily involves repetition and reinforcement as it builds through the program.

The same is true for writing. Students use writing to refine and sharpen thinking. We work to develop writers who, confronted with any writing task, will express themselves effectively, confidently, honestly, and accurately in their own voice. Recognizing and encouraging the relationship between creative and critical modes of expression, we provide students the opportunity for both throughout the program. During the six-year program, for instance, students study basic grammar, sentence structure, and usage; write précis and paraphrase; summarize and analyze poems, stories, plays, novels, and literary nonfiction; compose poetry, fiction, and personal narrative; and explore various modes of discourse (narrative, descriptive, reflective, argumentative, etc.). Our teachers, experienced professionals, may require different assignments from year to year, or teachers at a particular grade level may even give different assignments. Again, it is not so important that students receive the same assignments at the same time, as that they continually revisit a variety of tasks in order to hone their writing skills. As they progress through the program, of course, the students encounter progressively more challenging tasks. In their critical writing, for instance, students might trace plot or analyze character in a junior school assignment and then, in the later years, be asked to identify and critique stylistic devices in a passage or poem. Molding language to thought in the form of writing is a craft that requires hard work and time for reflection. Therefore, we emphasize that writing is a process and that to develop a topic, organize ideas, and command a nuanced vocabulary, students must diligently revise their writing.